You Don’t Have to be Anywhere When it Comes to Social Media

I had a former client email me and ask me if he should be on Instagram. He said that all of his friends and family members kept telling him he should be on Instagram and he really wasn’t sure he wanted to. My answer to him: Why do you want to be on Instagram? You don’t have to be anywhere you don’t want to be.

When it comes to social media, especially for personal use, why bite off more than you can chew? Why bite off more than you want to chew? I still believe that an empty and forgotten profile is worse than no profile at all.

Before opening up a bunch of social media profiles, that you know deep down you aren’t really going to use, ask yourself these questions:

Why do I want to be on this platform? Are you joining Instagram because your daughter told you that you should be? Or are you joining Instagram because you are tired of all the noise and chaos on Facebook and really enjoy looking at fun, colorful and authentic photos (for the most part)? If the answer is the latter, than yes! I think Instagram would be a great platform for you.

Do I have the time to keep up with another platform? If you are already overwhelmed with the platforms you are currently maintaining don’t add another one unless there is a really good reason for it.

Do I like this platform? If making boards of different topics and pinning different items and ideas to those boards doesn’t sound like something you would enjoy than I wouldn’t recommend spending a whole lot of time on Pinterest. If you love watching DIY videos and learning new things, YouTube may be a great place to spend some time. Ask yourself what you like and what you want out of a platform.

Where are my customers? If you are using social media for business ask your customers where they are spending their time and where they would be most likely to engage with you. If your customers are not on Twitter than I wouldn’t put a whole lot of time into Twitter for your business.

Time is precious. Decide how you want to spend your time and spend time doing the things you enjoy. Take a really good look at which social media platforms you want to spend time on or enjoy spending time on. You do not have to be anywhere you do not want to be.